BOSTON -- When Penguins coach Dan Bylsma opened practice at Boston University yesterday with a fun drill -- a two-puck, full-team scrimmage in which players shot with their off hand -- center and captain Sidney Crosby got into it as much as anyone else.

When the session gave way to more serious drills, Crosby was at full speed with new wingers as Bylsma scrambled his forward lines in the wake of back-to-back losses by a combined score of 10-2.

"We lost a couple games, so that happens," Crosby said of the biggest overhaul of line combinations since the team solidified its lineup at the March trade deadline last season.

It's likely the new lines will be in place when the Penguins play Boston tonight.

Perhaps being separated from longtime wingers Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz will benefit Crosby, who has gone a career-long four games with no points. He skated with wingers Matt Cooke and Ruslan Fedotenko, while Guerin and Kunitz moved to a line with Jordan Staal.

Bylsma, however, was not concerned that Crosby lacked motivation or intensity.

"At the end of the day, when you analyze the great players, I think you find that there is a unique level that they're willing to put on themselves and expect of themselves, and what comes with those expectations, with that focus, is the willingness to work beyond what we usually think is normal," Bylsma said.

Sounds like Crosby.

"He's really tough on himself. He's too tough on himself," Guerin said. "That's part of what makes him great. He expects a lot from himself. You want to try to take as much pressure off of him as you can because you know he's going to put so much on himself. But you've also got to let a guy kind of go through things his own way."

Crosby balked at the idea he is too hard on himself.

"You know what? Maybe he thinks that, but I don't," Crosby said. "I've been through it. I always put pressure on myself, but it's not too much. It's what I need. Everyone needs to push themselves in different ways. Maybe what I need is different from what Billy needs."

Bylsma said he did not rate Crosby's line by a lack of offense -- Guerin has one assist in the past five games, Kunitz one assist the past four games -- but looked at the fact his club was not playing effectively enough to get the type of time it needs in the other team's end.

There is little question, though, that Crosby and his line have been a focal point for fans and opponents recently because the Penguins are missing a slew of injured players, including fellow star center Evgeni Malkin.

Crosby believes that but does not see a link between his intense drive and his lack of offensive production.

"I don't think it hurts me. I think usually it helps," he said. "I don't think it's more pressure in a bad way. I think I usually get more out of myself because of that. It's something that has happened many times over the last few years -- NHL, junior, whatever the case is. I've always felt like I've been better for it. It's not been a negative effect."

Crosby had a difficult time putting into words exactly how he goes about turning up the pressure on himself without having it backfire by trying too hard.

"It's just something that happens," he said. "I think it's a natural thing. You make sure your focus is there more than ever because you know it needs to be. You just work on things.

"You can react to it in a way where you're squeezing your stick [too much] and you're trying to do everything yourself. That's not the case. I've been through it enough to know that that doesn't work."

Guerin said all the players are searching for answers. He trusts that Crosby will work through things.

"He's the only one who knows what's going on in his mind," Guerin said. "He's dealing with it. He deals with stuff in his own way, as we all do, and you just try to be a good friend, a good teammate."

Bylsma, as coach, has to do more. He will see if shuffling his forward combinations helps. The other two lines had Craig Adams centering Chris Conner and Pascal Dupuis, and Mike Rupp centering Eric Godard and Chris Bourque.

"I feel like it will benefit us," Fedotenko said of the changes, "and who knows -- maybe after the first couple shifts, it will go right back to how it was."

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